BriefHistoryofUS.txtThe Project Gutenberg EBook of A Brief History of the United Statesby John Bach McMasterCopyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check thecopyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributingthis or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this ProjectGutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit theheader without written permission.Please read the "legal small print," and other information about theeBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included isimportant information about your specific rights and restrictions inhow the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make adonation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts****eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971*******These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****Title: A Brief History of the United StatesAuthor: John Bach McMasterRelease Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6896][Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule][This file was first posted on February 9, 2003]Edition: 10Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: ASCII, with some ISO-8859-1 characters*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE U.S. ***Produced by Anne Soulard, Charles Franksand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATESBYJOHN BACH McMASTERPage 1

BriefHistoryofUS.txt[Illustration: GEORGE WASHINGTON. Painted by Rembrandt Peale.]PREFACEIt is not too much to assert that most of our countrymen acquire at schoolall the knowledge they possess of the past history of their country. Inview of this fact it is most desirable that a history of the United Statesfor elementary schools should present not only the essential features ofour country's progress which all should learn, but also many things ofsecondary consequence which it is well for every young American to know.In this book the text proper consists of the essentials, and these aretold in as few words as truth and fairness will permit. The notes, whichform a large part of the book, include the matters of less fundamentalimportance: they may be included in the required lessons, or may beomitted, as the teacher thinks proper; however, they should at least beread. Some of the notes are outline biographies of men whose acts requiremention in the text and who ought not to be mere names, nor appearsuddenly without any statement of their earlier careers. Others areintended to be fuller statements of important events briefly described ornarrated in the text, or relate to interesting events that are of onlysecondary importance. Still others call attention to the treatment ofhistorical personages or events by our poets and novelists, or suggestpassages in standard histories that may be read with profit. Suchsuggested readings have been chosen mostly from books that are likely tobe found in all school libraries.Much of the machinery sometimes used in history teaching--bibliographies,extensive collateral readings, judgment questions, and the like--have beenomitted as out of place in a brief school history. Better results may beobtained by having the pupils write simple narratives in their own words,covering important periods and topics in our history: as, the discovery ofAmerica; the exploration of our coast and continent; the settlements thatfailed; the planting of the English colonies; the life of the colonists;the struggles for possession of the country; the causes of the Revolution;the material development of our country between certain dates; and othersubjects that the teacher may suggest. The student who can take such broadviews of our history, and put his knowledge in his own words, will acquireinformation that is not likely to be forgotten.No trouble has been spared in the selection of interesting and authenticillustrations that will truly illustrate the text. Acknowledgment is duefor permission to photograph many articles in museums and in thepossession of various historical societies. The reproduction of part ofLincoln's proclamation on page 365 is inserted by courtesy of David McKay,publisher of Lossing's _Civil War in America_.JOHN BACH McMASTER.UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIAPage 2

BriefHistoryofUS.txt[Illustration: U. S. BATTLESHIP.]CONTENTSCHAPTERDISCOVERY AND EXPLORATIONI. THE NEW WORLD FOUNDII. THE ATLANTIC COAST AND THE PACIFIC DISCOVEREDIII. FRANCE AND ENGLAND ATTEMPT TO SETTLE AMERICATHE ENGLISH IN AMERICAIV. THE ENGLISH ON THE CHESAPEAKEV. THE ENGLISH IN NEW ENGLANDVI. THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIESVII. HOW THE COLONIES WERE GOVERNEDRIVALS OF THE ENGLISHVIII. THE INDIANSIX. THE FRENCH IN AMERICAX. WARS WITH THE FRENCHXI. THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM AMERICATHE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONXII. THE QUARREL WITH THE MOTHER COUNTRYXIII. THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE BEGUNXIV. THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON THE SEAXV. THE WAR IN THE WEST AND IN THE SOUTHDEVELOPMENT OF THE UNIONXVI. AFTER THE WARXVII. OUR COUNTRY IN 1789XVIII. THE NEW GOVERNMENTXIX. GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY, 1789-1805XX. THE STRUGGLE FOR COMMERCIAL INDEPENDENCEXXI. RISE OF THE WESTXXII. THE ERA OF GOOD FEELINGXXIII. POLITICS FROM 1829 TO 1841XXIV. GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1820 TO 1840THE LONG STRUGGLE AGAINST SLAVERYXXV. MORE TERRITORY ACQUIREDXXVI. THE STRUGGLE FOR FREE SOILXXVII. STATE OF THE COUNTRY FROM 1840 TO 1860XXVIII. THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1863XXIX. THE CIVIL WAR, 1863-1865XXX. THE NAVY IN THE WAR; LIFE IN WAR TIMESXXXI. RECONSTRUCTIONPage 3